People v. Hicks

MOSK, J., Dissenting.

In my view, Penal Code section 654 bars imposition of a full, consecutive term of imprisonment for defendant’s burglary conviction.1 The majority reach a contrary conclusion because they fail to apply standard canons of statutory construction. The result is the addition of three years to an absurd sentence of eighty years in prison.

It is my opinion that many criminal sentences have crossed the bounds of reason in this state. A sentence like the one imposed here, that cannot possibly be completed in the defendant’s lifetime, makes a mockery of the law and amounts to cruel…